Kelly Carter enters his eighth season at the helm of the Eagle track and field program in 2021-22. The three-time All-American and All-SEC selection has more than 22 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level as well as serving as a coach for the U.S. Paralympic Games.
Carter has accumulated a magnitude of achievements at Georgia Southern. The Eagles have broken 28 Georgia Southern school records and have competed in five cross-country regionals. Under Carter, the program has produced four Academic All-Americans and one Academic Athlete of the Year in addition to two Academic Athlete of the Year finalists. The Eagles have also collected over 31 Sun Belt Conference top-five event finishes, including 11 in 2020-21, as well as two individual Sun Belt Conference Champions.
Prior to being hired at Georgia Southern, Carter spent three years as an assistant coach at Middle Tennessee State, working primarily with the Blue Raider sprinters and hurdlers. Under his coaching, his student-athletes recorded more than 60 individual personal bests during the 2013-14 indoor and outdoor season. Carter coached two international athletes who would go on to be Olympians as well as three NCAA All-Americans.
The Blue Raiders produced 14 NCAA National Championships Qualifiers and 30 NCAA East Regional Qualifiers. The MTSU Track and Field program collected 32 Conference Championships between both the indoor and outdoor seasons. In 2012 the women’s team collected a team championship and the men’s program followed in 2013.
Prior to joining the MTSU staff, he served for 11 years as the head coach of the men’s track and field program at Tennessee State from 2000-2011. During his tenure in Nashville, more than 40 Tigers were crowned Ohio Valley Conference champions including Nick Horton, Chris Howell and Buford Williams, winning multiple events or posting back-to-back titles. Horton was named a two-time Athlete of the Year for the OVC Indoor Championships and Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, the No. 16 pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, was selected as OVC Indoor Championship MVP in 2007. The Arizona Cardinals' draft pick that season went on to play for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos among others during his 12-year career.
Carter joined the coaching ranks as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater, Auburn, he spent two years under the mentorship of longtime Tiger coaching greats Mel Rosen and Ralph Spry. He was part of the staff for Auburn’s fourth place NCAA-Finish in 1999 and third-place finish in 2000.
While at Auburn as an athlete, Carter was named a three-time NCAA All-American, four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and two-time Penn Relay champion. He added the 1999 SEC Championship in the 400m Hurdles and would go on to capture third place in the NCAA Championships later that same year.
Carter adds experience at an elite international level, which has provided a foundation for both is racing and coaching success. A member of the U.S. Junior National team, he traveled to Cuba and Vancouver, Canada, prior to beginning his freshman year at Auburn. He recorded the fifth-best 400m Hurdle and sixth-best 110m Hurdle time in Tiger history his first outdoor season. Carter participated in the 1988 Olympic Trials in the 400m Hurdles, advancing to the quarterfinals. He competed at the Indy trials for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team against the likes of eventual gold medalist Andre Phillips and bronze medalist Edwin Moses. Carter represented the United States at the Junior World Championships in Sudbury, Ontario, later that summer and claimed the gold medal in the 400m intermediate hurdles. His time of 49.50 was more than a full second faster than his nearest competitor.
The Atlanta native was a standout at Southwest DeKalb High School, setting numerous school, county, and state records. His 110-meter state record stood for more than a decade before being broken by Terrance Tremmell, followed shortly by his 300-meter state record falling to Angelo Taylor. Both record-breaking student-athletes graduated from Southwest DeKalb and went on to win medals in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Carter earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Auburn and his master’s in sports administration from Tennessee State. He is married to the former Angie Johnson, an Auburn All-American as a member of the Tigers’ 4x100m Relay team. They have two children, Kyle and Haley.
